Iran Arrests Over Two Dozen In Response To Assassination Of Hamas Chief Ismail Haniyeh

Iran has arrested more than two dozen individuals, including senior intelligence officers, military officials, and staff from a military-run guesthouse, following the massive security breach in Tehran that led to the assassination of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh.

The arrests follow a deadly explosion early Wednesday that killed Haniyeh, who was a prominent Hamas leader and was in Tehran for the inauguration of Iran’s new president, The New York Times (NYT) reported. The assassination occurred at a heavily secured guesthouse in northern Tehran, a location used frequently by Haniyeh during his visits.

The scale of the Iranian response shows the gravity of the security failure, as the assassination happened within hours of the new president’s swearing-in ceremony. According to Ali Vaez of the International Crisis Group, this incident could severely damage Iran’s regime, signaling that it can neither protect its own territory nor its allies.